Westwood vs Anderson

[paul6835]

Originally Posted by mm57553

There's a difference between wanting to be with people similar to yourself and being scared of people who are "non-white."

I asked for these details and appreciate his candor. You can state harsh realities and the impact of inequalities and not be racist.

[cwl1994]

Well there is a difference between the definition on paper of ghetto and what people have given it to mean. there is now, in american culture, an idea of what Ghetto Culture is and because of the number of transfers to Anderson some people (mostly more elitist) may label Anderson 'ghetto' however I say that is not the case because the preppy atmosphere is what mostly dominates the school. Your status at Anderson highly will derive from the elementary school you come from; example is nearly all Doss and Hill kids are imminently absorbed into the preppy atmosphere while if you are a summit or davis kid most will be in the preppy but some do get lost in the ghetto atmosphere. Over all Westwood is more consistant with smart kids but if you put our top 25% at AHS against the top 25% of WWHS, I would dare to say that you could find very little differences between the intelligence of them. Both schools academics are top notch in that case. I would go with AHS because of the less competition though but your kid will still have a great high school carrer. If later you aren't impressed with AHS you still have the option of sending the kids to any of the magnet schools in Austin ISD (such as LASA or McCallum). But I am slightly bias. Westwood, as I said, is a great school.

[BandDad91]

I'm a parent of a current Anderson high school student. Over all, we've been very happy with our experience at Anderson. I can only speak to Westwood's reputation and published rankings.

You're not going to wrong with either school. If you have a kid that is borderline top 8 or 10% and getting in to UT or AtM is important to you, I suspect their chances are somewhat better at Anderson.

Anderson struggles to field a strong football team, but I think we are pretty competitive in other sports. I suspect Westwood and Anderson are pretty comparable in having strong extracurriculars. Of course, I think our band is better! ;-)

Westwood has a reputation for having a sizable Asian / Indian population, which I consider a strength. Anderson is probably otherwise more ethnically and culturally diverse, which I also consider a strength. Westwood has a reputation for piling on the homework. I dont know how accurate this reputation is. I have found the homework level at Anderson to be very manageable, but we are just now getting into the upper classman years.

I can't speak to the differences as to the overall school districts. I just don't know how RRISD operates. I have not found dealing with AISD too bad so far. Most of my issues are with our legislature.

I don't know what the percentages are for getting into top tier schools. I just know anecdotally of top Anderson students getting into Berkley and Northwestern and such.

Both schools will give your kids an opportunity to succeed.

[gdawg0440]

I'm a recent alumnus of Anderson and have many friends at both schools. While Anderson does have a more ethnic population, it is the wealthier school overall.

This may be a touchy subject for some, but the Pre-AP and AP classes at Anderson are an incredible segregation tool. The "regular" classes are filled with student bussed in from other areas and some parts of Mopac/Parmer, West Duval Rd, etc. The honors classes are mainly the upper-middle class students who live near AHS. I was in mainly honors classes and never felt like my learning was being disrupted or hindered in any way. I can't comment on how Westwood's classes are run.

If your child has any dreams of going to UT-Austin, it's going to be much easier from Anderson. My friends at WWHS say the Asian population dominates the class ranks. WW is probably more competitive, but I'm not convinced that means it offers a better education. Both schools offer an abundance of extracurriculars.

If you're choosing between the schools, it comes down to what you want from your neighborhood. Westwood is a more economically homogeneous area, but Anderson is wealthier in most areas and significantly closer to downtown/UT campus which affects the culture of the school. I live near Mesa and Far West, which is an area that has a lot of character and is much older than anything in the Westwood district.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=austi...16.01,,0,14.63

This is Greystone Dr, one of the most typical streets in NW hills. Lots of well-kept lawns, typical looking houses.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=austi...,14.32,,0,7.84

This is Marybank Dr, one of the typical streets in the Westwood area. More cookie-cutter in appearance IMO, and over a 30 minute drive from downtown even without traffic.

Also, in my grade (2011) there were two kids that went to Harvard, one to UC-Berkely, Tulane, Vanderbilt, etc.